Nitric oxide (NO) has recently been shown to dramatically reduce thrombocyte and fibrin aggregation/adhesion and smooth muscle cell hyperplasia while promoting endothelial cell growth. NO has also been implicated as part of a cascade of interacting agents involved in a wide variety of bioregulatory processes, including the physiological control of blood pressure, macrophage-induced cytostasis and cytotoxicity, neurotransmission, cancer, and infectious diseases. Given that NO plays a role in such a wide variety of bioregulatory processes, great effort has been expended to develop compounds capable of releasing NO.
Despite the extensive literature available on NO and nitric oxide-releasing compounds, there remains a need for stable nitric oxide-releasing compounds.